The present invention generally relates to an apparatus, a system and a method for using a light-emitting diode (LED) to identify a presence of a material in a gas and/or a fluid and/or determine properties of the material. More specifically, the present invention relates to an LED and a light detector that may be used to determine the presence or absence of the material in the gas and/or the fluid and the properties of the material, such as a refractive index of the material and/or a chemical compound in the material.
The presence of a material in a fluid is important for slurries. A slurry is a suspension of solids in a liquid. An example of a commercially implemented slurry is an ethanol slurry made from the fermentation of corn or another starch. Ethanol slurries are used to produce fuels, alcoholic beverages, solvents, and organic reagents. The purity of the slurry may be critical for the subsequent uses of the slurry. It is known to detect irregularities in a slurry using ultrasonic testing. However, equipment to generate ultrasonic pulses for such testing is expensive. Therefore, ultrasonic testing of slurries is costly. Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for using an LED to identify a presence of irregularities in a slurry and determine the properties of the irregularities.
The presence of a material in a fluid is also important for transformers. A transformer is an electrical device that has a primary coil and a secondary coil. The primary coil accepts an input current, and travel of the input current through the primary coil generates a magnetic field that extends to the secondary coil. A change in the current in the primary coil causes changes in the magnetic field to which the secondary current is exposed, which induces a current in the secondary coil. As a result, a transformer converts power to a different voltage which is dependent on the number of turns in each of the coils.
Typically, mineral oil is used to insulate the transformer. More specifically, the coils of the transformer are immersed in a highly-refined mineral oil which is stable at high temperatures. However, gas bubbles or water in the mineral oil may cause arcing. Arcing is the electrical breakdown of gas caused by a current flowing through normally nonconductive media. Arcing may introduce carbon contaminants into the mineral oil of the transformer. Gas bubbles, water, and carbon contaminants may impair the ability of the mineral oil to insulate the transformer. Therefore, these irregularities may cause a transformer to overheat. Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for using an LED to identify a presence of irregularities in mineral oil insulating a transformer and determine the properties of the irregularities.
The presence of a material in a fluid is also important for aircraft engine oil, such as mineral oil or synthetic oil. Aircraft engine oil lubricates, cools, cleans, seals the components of the engine, protects against corrosion, and reduces noise. Without the lubrication provided by the oil, the moving parts of the aircraft engine directly contact each other and, as a result, degrade rapidly. Debris in aircraft engine oil may prevent the oil from providing lubrication and the other functions. For example, ceramic bearings are high performance bearings but are not used in aircraft engines because ceramic shards introduced into the aircraft engine oil cannot be detected using known oil turbidity sensors. Undetected ceramic shards may impair aircraft engine oil function and typically are not identified until engine trouble occurs. Therefore, lower performance bearings which create debris detected by known oil turbidity sensors are used in aircraft engines. Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for using an LED to identify a presence of ceramic in aircraft engine oil.
The presence of a material in a fluid is also important for central intravenous tubing, namely intravenous tubing which uses a catheter inserted into a large vein. Intravenous tubing may deliver an air bubble into the patient's circulation to block a vessel and cause an embolism. Peripheral intravenous tubing, namely intravenous tubing which uses a short catheter inserted into a peripheral vein, has a low risk of embolism because a large bubble cannot travel through a narrow catheter; however, a greater risk of air bubble-induced embolism is presented by central intravenous tubing. An embolism may cause life-threatening damage to pulmonary circulation or stop the heart. Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus, a system and a method for using an LED to identify a presence of air bubbles in central intravenous tubing.